Life was unfair. Completely, and totally unfair. Chloe had gone through so much shit in her life, after her dad had died, after her mom had remarried to her step-dad. After everything. But this shithole city took away the one she loved most.

Max.

Seattle had taken away the brown haired, shy girl, her best friend, and had left her completely violated and dead in a ditch some place off of I-5. Max had died in pain, and her killer hadn't given a shit.

She had been up all night, going between crying and just thinking about her times with Max, which lead to more crying. Her eyes were probably red and bloodshot. That was fine. Chloe hadn't given a crap about anything anyway. Max, her love, had been taken.

The bluenette drags herself out of her bed. Maybe a coffee could do good. Typically, her favorite place was empty at this time of night, so she could just vent or whatever. Chloe grabs her wallet, with enough money for a couple coffees, and heads out. It was only a couple blocks away..

Chloe sighs when she gets there, before going in. The girl working isn't the normal, Chloe notes with a pang. Normally, it'd be Max. The girl is either a new worker, or was filling in for Max. Her obvious features included her long blonde hair, and she was wearing black jeans and a red flannel, a blue feather earring in one ear. She was beautiful, even if she couldn't see her face. She looks up as the door opens,

"Oh my God, girl you obviously need a drink," Her face was absolutely flawless. Everything seemed to be. The blonde gets up, "Anything in particular?"

"Just, get me strong shit. Double espresso, I don't really give a shit," the bluenette tells her, almost coldly. The blonde shakes it off,

"Hey, don't worry, I understand where you're coming from, I've been pretty sad tonight as well. Tell you what. Double espresso is on me," the blonde offers her.

"No," Chloe objects, "It's fine. I can pay."

"No, no stop. I want to pay for you. You obviously need it, and honestly, it doesn't matter to me. Just, let me do one thing nice for someone," the blonde is obviously holding back tears,

"Alright, if you want to, you can," The bluenette couldn't stand seeing the other girl so upset, especially with the tears she held at bay. The blonde nods, and Chloe goes to sit down at a table. A couple minutes later, Rachel walks over, with two. She hands one to Chloe, and keeps the other,

"So, I'm Rachel. Are you perhaps Chloe?"

"How the fuck you guess?" she mutters,

"You're a regular here, boss says. Plus, a few friends. An ex-girlfriend too, I guess," a sniff from the blonde,

Chloe takes a sip from her cup, "So, what's got you down?"

"My ex-girlfriend," Rachel sighs, "She's gone now."

"Did she move?" Chloe asked, hoping she wasn't talking about Max.

"No. She died. That's all I want to say."

"Rachel, I think I know who you're talking about. Max."

A look of hurt flashes over her face, and then a few tears drip down as she nods, "Yeah… Max. She talked about you, you know. You two were obviously close… She was… Everything someone could ever want. Kind, loving, compassionate… Ambitious even. Enough to match up with me. She… She made my life worth living, Chloe." More tears drip down her face, and Chloe gets up, grabbing the blonde and embracing her, hugging her close. And let the tears fall freely into her shirt.

"I understand. It's okay. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but it will be. There's… Always light somewhere at the end of the tunnel," Ironic of her to say that, as all Chloe had seen since fourteen was darkness.

"I just want to apologize to her," Rachel sniffs, crying more.

"Apologize for what?" Chloe kept her voice kind and quiet, for her.

"We got into an argument over something stupid. I told her to get out of my dorm. And she did. She just left without a word… This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't said all the terrible shit I said to her. This is… Completely my fault," The tears flowed freely, and Chloe just hugged her close, not knowing what to say to her, because she obviously wasn't okay.

She dries up her tears however, and sighs,

"I miss her Chloe. I just want a proper chance to say goodbye."

"I know. I do too. We'll go to her funeral together. We'll say goodbye together. And I'll be here for you when you apologize to her, if you feel the need to. Okay?"

She nods, and sighs, taking a sip of her coffee, grabbing a napkin and a pen from her pocket, writing on it,

"Call me, okay?"

Chloe nods, and placed the napkin in her pocket, and hugged her close, before grabbing her coffee, and walking out of the coffee shop.

Chloe didn't call her the next day, but the day after, she finally decided to call her. The blonde didn't answer the first time, but the second time, she had.

"Um, hi. This is Rachel," She sounded almost worried.

"Yo, don't worry, it's Chloe. Something wrong?"

A sigh of relief, "Shit, dude. I have someone harassing me. I'm getting calls from random numbers, probably payphones or shit and the dude calling is saying shit about Max and how I'm so fucking innocent or whatever, and that he wants me to be his next subject or whatever."

"Subjects such as those in paintings or photos. You two had photography together, right?"

"Yeah, and Victoria and Kate… Why?"

"Just… Thinking. Is the voice anything familiar?"

"Somewhat… Oh… Oh, my fucking God I can see where you're going with this. Holy shit dude, you're a fucking genius."

Chloe grins, and Rachel can hear her excitement through the phone, "Well, at least her case won't go unsolved. You know Mr. Madsen?"

"The dickhead security chief? Yeah, why?"

"He's my stepdad. Paranoid about everything. Text him, about a tip or whatever. He'll investigate. I promise Rachel, he won't take you if it's him. Do you have work tonight?"

"I actually got off not too long ago, so no."

"Hell yeah girl! Come crash at my place tonight. Neither stepdouche or my mom will be home, so they'll be okay with you crashing on the couch or whatever."

"Oh my God, Chloe. Yes, thank you so much," Rachel's relief was heard through the phone,

"Are you still at work?"

"Hanging out inside, yeah. Pick me up there?"

"Sure thing," And with that, Chloe hung up, and quickly got ready to pick up Rachel.

An anonymous tip sent to David Madsen, the security chief of a local high school has lead to a search warrant on Mark Jefferson's house. Jefferson, age 38, is the current photography teacher working at the high school. Found inside his house were binders with many incriminating photos of teenage females, including recent murder and rape victim, Maxine Kayla Caulfield, and two other recent cold cases, Victoria Maribeth Chase and Katherine Beverly Marsh, as well as other girls from Arcadia Bay, Oregon, where Jefferson previously worked at Blackwell Academy as a photography teacher. Girls from there include Megan Jennifer Weaver, whose case has been cold for over a year. It is expected that Jefferson will serve a life sentence.

Rachel had remained strong throughout her funeral. Had remained strong as her casket was lowered into the ground. Max was gone, and hopefully at peace. And now, with people gone, it was just them. She walked to the fresh gravestone, and kneeled down.

Maxine Caulfield

September 21, 1995 – April 23, 2013

A fire snuffed out by evil, but always to burn in our hearts

"Alright… So… First things first, I'm sorry. This is my fault, and for that, I'm sorry. No matter how many times I say this, it won't be enough to bring you back, so I'm sorry that I said all those things to you. I'm also sorry that you died in pain and feeling unloved by me," She pulls out a box, "I was going to propose to you soon," A sniff, and she digs a shallow hole and places the ring in it, "So I want you to have this in the afterlife, because I never got to give it to you." Next, she takes out her earring, and places it next to the ring, "I want you to have this too. I know it's mine, but… I just want you to remember me somehow." She buries it, and starts to cry, "I'm sorry I failed you, Maxine. So I want to say this one more time. I love you… Goodbye, sweetheart."

The blonde breaks down completely, and Chloe kneels down next to her, hugging her close as she cried. A breeze is felt, and a squeeze to Rachel's hand is felt, not from Chloe. Rachel looks down, and she feels the squeeze on more time. Firm, and loving.

"Sleep well, Max." A brush to her back, and she was gone. Rachel sighs, crying lighter, but eventually drying up her tears,

"I… I can't believe I was going to be next," Rachel sighs, getting up. Chloe gets up with her and looks up as Max's parents walked to the stone. Vanessa was crying, and Ryan was obviously holding back his own tears for the former. Chloe took the crying woman in her embrace, and Ryan sighed,

"I'm sorry about your own loss, Rachel."

Rachel nods, "It's big for me, but a parent's loss will always be greater, no matter how much someone else loves their child."

Ryan nods as well, hugging her, "I take it you never got to propose."

She sighs, "Yeah, but I gave her the ring anyways, so it's not wasted. She'll always have it with her now."

"Good on you. You and Chloe should come over for dinner some time soon. It'll take a while to get used to not having another face at our table."

Another sigh, "Yeah. I'll see what I can do. I guess we all just need time to think. At least… At least the sick fuck who took her was caught."

"That's a good thing," Ryan agrees, "It'd be better if it never happened in the first place. And he took so many innocent lives too, not just our daughter's. Teachers are people we're supposed to look up to, not people we're afraid of."

Rachel nods, and Chloe gets up, hugging Ryan next, muttering a simple, "I'm sorry," to him. Ryan hugs her back, "It's okay, Chloe. She's still here in our hearts. Can we perhaps talk in private?"

Chloe nods, and the two go off. Ryan takes out Max's journal and passes it to her,

"I know you think she'd want Rachel to have it. But I know my daughter, and I know that between you two, she would want you to have this. If you want to give it to Rachel though, go ahead. It won't hurt me a bit."

"Neither of us deserve this. It's hers, and you should keep it to serve as a memoir of her."

"She'd want you to have it. Please, keep it."

"Thank you so much Ryan."

Ryan nods, and sighs, "Please, be here for Rachel. You wouldn't know it from looking at her, but she has extreme depression, and was in a dark place when she and Max started to date. She loved Max very much, and I could see it from how they looked at each other. I don't know what it's like to be her right now, but I know her heart's been torn in two. I don't want you to be a replacement for Max, but I want you to be a support for Rachel. Be like a mother to her if you need to be. Max wouldn't want her to… You know. Do this for her if anyone."

"I will, Ryan."

"Thank you."

The two walked back over to Rachel and Vanessa. Chloe hugged the former, and sighed, "We should go."

Rachel nods, and the two walk off, a slight drizzle coming down from the Seattle sky. The two walked to Chloe's truck, and they hopped in.

"Can you take me to my dorm?" she asks.

"Sure. And text me tomorrow, alright?"

Rachel nods, and Chloe drives her to the dorms. She looks over to Rachel, and Rachel sighs,

"See ya around, Chloe."

"You too."

She watched, almost with longing as she entered the dorms, before she drove off back home.

Her phone vibrates, waking her up. Chloe sighs, checking it. It's a text from Rachel, which was a picture. Cuts, and fresh, below reading, "I don't want to start again."

She instantly responds, "Come to my house. Now."

"I don't want to see anyone. I just wanna curl up and die."

"I don't give a shit, come to my house."

"No."

Chloe sighs, "I will personally go to the dorms and find you if you don't come over."

"No."

Chloe calls her, and surprisingly, Rachel picks up,

"Fuck off Chloe." She sounded… Dead.

"Rachel, please. Do you think Max wants this?"

"Max is gone," she said in the same monotone voice, "She doesn't give a shit about what I do."

"So what. Say she didn't, which she does. But if she didn't, that doesn't mean I do. So I want you to just come to my house. You don't have to go anywhere else. Hell, crash at my place for a few days. You need to be around people, and not holed away in your room."

"Oh My God… Fine, I'll come over for a few days if you just fucking beg for it." She hangs up the phone, and Chloe sighs. Surprisingly however, the sound of a car pulling up is heard. Chloe gets up, and heads outside as Rachel gets out. She looked equally dead as she had sounded on the phone. The bluenette rushes over to her, and hugs her close.

"Ryan warned me about this. Come on, just stay with me for a few days."

"Of course he did… Alright, if you want me to." Her arms were rolled up in a long sleeved sweatshirt to hide her cuts, obviously. She sighs, leading her inside, locking the door.

"Show me the cuts," Chloe commanded her, not roughly though.

Rachel sighs, and rolls up both sleeves. She had cut both arms.

"Is it worth it, Rachel? Is the pain worth it?"

"Don't bother guilt tripping me. It's… It's a release."

She hugs her, "I didn't mean to guilt you. It sounded like I was though, I understand. I just don't see how it's worth it. I understand the pain is a release, but… Do you understand that it's not worth it in the end?"

"I get that it's not… I just… Want a release from everything."

"Rachel," She lowered her voice, "It's not that you want a release. It's just that you want to cope. You're depressed, and this is how you cope with the loss of a loved one, especially one you hold dearly to your heart." The phantom squeeze to Rachel's hand again. She looked down,

"I'm sorry. Both of you."

"Is she here?" Chloe asks.

Rachel nods, and sighs, "I love you Max. I know… You don't want this. I'll try."

"For her," Chloe adds, and sighs, "Feel free to hang out in my room. I'll get you some food. Anything?"

"Just… I'm not really hungry right now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… I'll eat later."

"I'm holding you to your word. So you actually better eat, do you understand?"

Rachel nods, and the two walk to her room, and Rachel just walks to her bed, lays down, and cries herself to sleep. And all Chloe can do is just feel sadness and guilt for the blonde.

Rachel had slept all day, and all night, but had woken up the next day as Chloe set down a plate of bacon and eggs.

"You were asleep all night, so you couldn't really hold to your word. That's fine. I cooked you some food, well, actually, my mom did. It's really good, you should try some."

Rachel shakes her head, "I'm… Really not that hungry."

"Yes you are. I know you don't feel like it right now, but you need to eat. Just eat one of the eggs, and a bit of the bacon if anything. I'll eat the rest."

Rachel sighs, and starts to eat, picking slowly at the food, eating her egg and a portion of the bacon slowly, before passing it to Chloe.

"Thanks, I guess."

Chloe nods, and eats the rest of it, and Rachel lays down, falling asleep again.

Rachel stayed at Chloe's house for the next week or so, and slowly, her eyes had started to brighten again. She started to eat on her own even. Rachel had become happier again, and that made Chloe happier as well. Right now, Rachel was laying on the couch, probably thinking. She obviously hadn't been over Max, even now, but, still. She was happy.

Chloe walked over to the blonde, setting down a plate of food for her. The blonde digs in with a nod to the bluenette. Now, Rachel was as bad as Chloe, wolfing down her food in only a few seconds it seemed. Chloe smiled, sitting next to her when she finishes.

"You were thinking weren't you?" Chloe asks, and Rachel nods. She didn't need to say anything for Chloe to know who she was thinking about.

"I miss her," she whispered, and Chloe sighs,

"I do too. She was my best friend for as long as I can remember. I… Don't deal with abandonment very well. We used to live in Arcadia Bay, but my dad died, and Max had to move up here. She didn't contact me until two years ago. During that time, I just felt abandoned… And turned into the typical Oregonian degenerate. Death, I guess is similar. When she contacted me though, we moved up here. Mom wanted me closer to Max, to help her and shit. I don't know."

The blonde sighs, "I met Max online. I don't remember what website. Probably some forum for depressed teens, I browsed those all the time. We… Were similar in our own right. My parents were abusive, and I was bullied terribly to begin with. I was legally emancipated already, and living with someone I met on the forum while I was working up funds to move. A verified therapist from the Long Beach area, which was a help. It was difficult. But when I got enough, I told her I was moving. I didn't tell her where until after I moved into my current apartment, and got the job at the shop. I typically worked the afternoon, she typically worked night shift. Max had always been a night owl," Rachel smiles at the thought, "But yeah. I told her, she freaked, and we started going to school together. We were going to finish education together. This was our year. I intended to propose to her after the graduation."

Chloe hugs her, "Yeah. I teased her about that. I graduated last year, surprisingly. You'd have expected me to have been kicked out." That earned a chuckle from Rachel.

"Yeah… I'll miss her, you know. Life's… Fucked up."

"It is," Chloe agrees, and sighs. "I can see why you two loved each other," Chloe tells her, and the blonde looks down, a tear dripping down.

"I don't want to see myself with anyone else. I lost a part of my soul when I lost her." A couple more tears.

"I know, but, Max would want you to move on, and you know that too."

Rachel dries up her tears, nodding, and looks to Chloe. God… Chloe was struggling to not look at her. She was beautiful. Was she… Was she having feelings for Rachel?

"I know," she sighs, "I just don't want to."

Chloe grabs her hand, "But you have to accept it. I'm having a hard time as well. Maybe we can let go together?"

She nods, a brush of phantom hands against theirs. Rachel whispered her goodbyes, as did Chloe, before they let go. Rachel felt the squeeze one last time, before the feeling of a weight being lifted from her back came over her. Max had left for the afterlife.

"One day, Max, we'll reunite. And we'll do all the things we wanted to. I promise," Rachel vows, knowing Max would hear. Chloe hugs her close,

"She's always here," she presses her hand to the blonde's heart, "Right here, Rachel. And she won't leave."

Rachel lays down, remaining silent as she shuts her eyes. Max would always be in her heart, even if gone from this earth. She sighs, letting the sweet embrace of sleep take her in.

Waking up didn't feel like a chore anymore. The blonde wakes up next to Chloe's sleeping form. Chloe was beautiful, even in sleep. Rachel was having conflicting feelings. She had let go yesterday. She had finally accepted that Max was gone. But she didn't want to love another person. Yet, here she was, already falling into love's embrace, as over the week, she had felt… Love for Chloe. A love even more pure than what she had felt for Max. She hadn't realized how long she had been looking at her when she wakes up, and chuckles,

"Looking at me while I sleep, huh? Perv."

Rachel snorts, sitting down next to her as she drags herself awake, "Am not."

"You are too."

Rachel shoves her, causing her to cough,

"Bitch, I just woke up," Chloe chuckled, and sighs, "I really don't mind though, don't worry?"

"What do you mean, you don't mind?" She had seen how she looked at her yesterday. Maybe…

"Look, I don't know what I've been feeling, it's… Really confusing. I… Think I like you Rachel. As more than a friend."

"Come here then," Rachel smiled, and Chloe scooted over. Rachel wrapped her arms around Chloe, pulling her close and kissed her. Straight on the lips. It lasted a second, before she pulled away.

"Rachel, do that again," Chloe tells her, and she does. More sure, the blonde's lips meet the bluenette's again. And this time, Chloe responds. It felt weird to be kissing her lips, after kissing Max's for so long, but at the same time… So natural. Neither had any idea how long they had been kissing until they pulled away.

"I love you, Chloe."

"I love you too, Rachel."

And those five words set Rachel's life back on track.